Throttle control mechanism



- Aug. 29, 1939. E. J. SAMPSON 2,171,456 THROTTLE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed April 13, 1937 2 SheetsSheet l E L/. SAMPSON BY W INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Aug. 29, 1939. E. J. SAMPSON THROTTLE CGNTR'OL MECHANISM Filed April 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 f. u. SAMPfiON INVENTOR.

W2 m eg m Patented Aug. 29, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFHCE 15 Claims.

The present invention relates: to throttle control mechanism of the type disclosed in my Patent No. 2,043,868, issued June 9, 1936, being especially designed for different types of tractors than that indicated in the above identified patent.

Among the objects of this invention are to provide mechanism which may be applied to tractors of standard construction and which, when used, Will result in the automatic speeding up of the tractor engine before the clutch takes effect to cause propulsion of the tractor; to provide a construction of the type indicated which Will permit either manual or automatic control of the tractor engine; to provide means which is simple in construction and easy to apply to a tractor; to provide a structure of the nature indicated which, when properly appled to a tractor, will reduce fuel consumption, oil consumption, and wear on the engine; to produce a structure which will eliminate habitual clutch riding; to provide a structure of the character indicated which will eliminate excessive clutch wear; to provide a structure of the nature indicated which will reduce jerk in the starting of a tractor; to provide a structure of the nature indicated which will, in general, improve the performance of tractors; to provide a structure for the purpose indicated which is inexpensive to manufacture and which can be furnished and installed at a objects, advantages, and capabilities as will hereafter appear and as are inherent in the construction disclosed herein. My invention further resides in the combination, construction, and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings and while Ihave shown therein what is now regarded as the preferred embodiment of this invention, I desire the same tobe understood as illustrative only and not to be interpreted in a limiting sense.

In the drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof,

Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of my new construction, the tractor carburetor and a part of the framework thereof being shown in broken lines;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the parts in a different position of adjustment;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Figs. 1 and 2 with the parts in a still different position of adjustment;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a carburetor with parts of the throttle control mechanism shown connected thereto; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary transverse section taken price within the reach of all; and such further proximately along the plane indicated by the line 55, Fig. 3.

Reference will now be made in greater detail to the annexed drawings for a more complete description of this invention. The carburetor is indicated by the numeral 1, the clutch control rod by the numeral 2, and a frame element of the tractor by the numeral 3. These are conventional elements and form no part of my invention, although my invention is connected thereto for operation of the carburetor throttle in cooperative relationship with the clutch actuating rod 2. A pair of brackets 4 and 5 are clamped to the frame member 3 by means of bolts 6 which hold the brackets securely in place, supporting the operating parts in proper position for operation.

A sector I is secured to one end of the throttle shaft 8, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, its position thereon being adjustable by loosening the screw 9. The butterfly It] of the throttle is attached to the shaft 8 in the customary manner. This valve may be adjusted to give a greater or less opening for idling of the engine by properly adjusting the screw II which engages an appropriateistop connected with the carburetor. The rod [2 constitutes a part of the manual control means for the throttle, the same being connected at one end indirectly to the manual control near the drivers seat and at its opposite end to the lever l'3 which is pivotally mounted on the shaft 8. This lever is provided with a notch M which cooperates with a pin I5 carried by the ring or support l6, adjustably but normally immovably mounted on the shaft 8 by means of the screw H. The coiled spring l8 has one end engaged with the pin l5 and its opposite end inserted through an opening in a plate 19 mounted on the shaft 8. This plate I9 is preferably rigidly connected to a tubular member 20 surrounding the shaft 8. The lever I3 is also rigidly connected to the tubular member 20. The position of the plate 19 may be predetermined and adjusted by means of the screw 2| which engages a fixed part of the carburetor to limit in one direction the rotation of the plate l9 under the influence of spring I8.

As shown in Fig. 4, a link 22 has one end bent at a right angle to extend through an arcuate slot 23 in the sector 1. This is fastened in place in this slot in any suitable manner, such, for example, as a cotterkey passed through an opening in the end of the link. This link has a collar 24 adjustably secured thereon in desired position by means of a screw 25. The bracket 5 has an arm 26 extending inwardly and downwardly and slotted for the reception of the link 22. As is apparent from Figs. 1, 2, and 3, this link must move upwardly and downwardly and occupy different angular positions during the operation of the device. The collar 24 serves as limiting means to restrict the amount which the link 22 may move rearwardly. The rear end of this link is flattened, as indicated at 21, and this flat tened portion of the link slides through slots in the arms 23 and 29 of the U-shaped guide member 33 which is adjustably secured to the bracket by means of the bolt 3 l.

Pivotally connected at 33 to the bracket 4 is a lever 32 which is, in turn, pivotally connected to a friction block 34 by any suitable means 35. An arm 36 is adjustably connected to the lever 32 and may be secured in adjusted position by means of the nut and bolt 31. As indicated in Fig. 5, the lever 32 comprises a pair of members bent laterally away from each other at their up per ends to furnish space for the reception of the friction block 34. These members constituting the lever 32 are also spaced at their central portion to receive between them the arm 35 which is pivotally connected to the link 38, by means of which the movable parts of this construction are connected, operatively to the clutch actuating link or rod 2.

As indicated at 39, the rear end of the link 38 is screw-threaded for the reception of the nuts iii and 4! which may be adjusted on the link to regulate the operation of the controlling mechanism and the engine controlled thereby. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a clamp 42 engages the clutch operating rod 2 so that operation of te clutch pedal will cause operation of the link 38 and the parts controlled thereby. The clamp 4?. has an apertured arm 43 through which the link 38 passes, and this arm 43 is engaged by one end of a spring 44, the other end of which engages the nut 49. This makes provision for relative longitudinal movement between the clutch control rod 2 and the link 38.

The friction block 34 comprises a pair of composition blocks 45, a pair of metal plates 45, bolts 4'.', springs 48, and nuts 49. While these nuts are illustrated as ordinary square nuts, it is preferred that they be winged nuts, since it is desirable that they be readily adjustable in order that the tension of the blocks 45 upon strip 2'! may be readily adjusted. As shown in Fig. 5, the inner faces of the blocks 45 are grooved slightly in order to in sure that the friction member 34 will not rock upon the strip 21 but will slide thereon in a direction parallel to the axis of the strip.

Operation The operator, before cranking the engine, opens the throttle a little and completely chokes the engine. He then cranks the engine and, when it starts to fire, he adjusts the choke to keep the engine running until it warms up. The operator then gets on the seat of the tractor and co1npletely releases the clutch. He now shifts into the operating gear which he wishes to use in driving the tractor and manually adjusts the throttle for the desired engine speed. The final step in starting the tractor is to let the clutch in. Just at the time the clutch begins to take hold, this device causes opening of the throttle to give the engine the necessary power to start the load without stalling or racing the engine. The foregoing description is for the operation of a tractor equipped with a variable speed governor. If the tractor is equipped with the old style regular governor, not variable, then the operation will be somewhat different, since the hand throttle lever will move toward closed position as the clutch pedal is depressed to release the clutch. Also, when the clutch pedal is released, then the hand throttle lever moves to open position. When the rod 22 moves to the left from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 1, at the time the clutch is thrown out of engagement, the sector 1 and shaft 8 are rotated into the position illustrated in Fig. 1 and, in this position, the butterfly ill will be completely closed, except to the extent that it is held open by the adjustment of the screw ii, this screw being provided for the purpose of getting the correct throttle opening for the desired idling speed of the engine. When the screw ll abuts against its stop, rotation of the sector 7 about the axis of shaft 8 is discontinued, thus preventing farther longitudinal movement of the link 22. At this time, link 22 will occupy the position shown in Fig. 1 but the block 34 will occupy a position intermediate between the positions shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Deceleration of the engine is completed when the sector 7 reaches a position very slightly in advance of that shown in Fig. 3, the block 34 being, at that time, slightly forward of the position shown in Fig. 3. Continued pressure on the clutch pedal will cause the friction block 34 to slide along the flattened portion 21 of rod 22 until the friction block abuts against the arm 28, as shown in Fig. 1. During this movement, spring 44 is not compressed but, when the forward movement of the friction block 34 is stopped by the arm 28, farther movement of the clutch pedal will cause arm 43 of clamp 42 to compress the spring 44 into the position shown in Fig. 1. Continued forward movement of the clutch pedal will cause the clutch to become disengaged. However, it is not necessary to push. the clutch pedal forwardly far enough to disengage the clutch. When the pedal has moved forwardly far enough to slow the engine down to any desired speed, it may be held there without disengaging the clutch. Then, if it is desired to again speed up, all that is necessary is to release the pressure on the pedal and the engine will speed up. If it is desired to stop the tractor and let it stand idle with the engine running, the operator releases the clutch, shifts into neutral, closes the throttle to the desired idling speed, and then lets the clutch into engagement again by letting the clutch pedal back.

Now let us assume that the operator desires to start his tractor ahead, the transmission being assumed to be shifted into engaging position. As the operator starts to let up on the clutch pedal, the clamp 42 moves backwardly with the rod 2 but the link 38 does not move because the spring 44 exerts pressure between the arm 43 and the nut 40. When the clutch pedal has moved backwardly sufiiciently so that the arm 43 engages the nut 49, the parts are then in position so that farther movement of the clutch pedal will cause link 38 to travel backwardly carrying with it the lever 32, friction block 34, and link 22. The tension of the springs 48 should be sufficient to cause enough pressure of the fiber blocks 45 against the sides of the flattened part 2'! so that the link 22 will be caused to move with the block 34. As the link 22 moves rearwardly, sector I is permitted to swing about the axis of shaft 8 under the influence of spring l8. The plate I 9 may be regarded as fixed in position during this movement. Therefore, the end of the spring l8 which engages the pin l5 will cause the collar it and shaft 8 to rotate about the axis of the latter. This causes opening of the throttle valve and permits speeding up of the engine. This speeding up of the engine takes place at the time the clutch starts to engage and. the engine therefore has a proper speed at the time the clutch takes hold to start driving the tractor. When the collar 2 engages the arm 26, rearward motion of the link 22 is stopped but this occurs before the friction block 34 engages the arm 29. Therefore, continued motion of the clutch rod 2 will cause the friction block 34 to slide on the flattened portion 21 until the block abuts against the arm 29. Now, the clutch is in full engagement and the throttle wide open, so far as permitted by the governor, the parts being in the positions shown in Fig. 2.

Now let us assume that the operator wishes to stop his tractor. As he pushes on the clutch pedal, the clutch control rod 2 carries the clamp t2 forwardly and, as explained above, this pushes link 38 forwardly, moving the parts into the position shown in Fig. 3. It is apparent that in this position the link 22 has moved the sector 1, thus rotating the shaft 8 and substantially closing the throttle valve. This takes place before the clutch is disengaged. At about the position shown in Fig. 3, or a little forwardly thereof, the clutch disengages, the throttle valve being entirely closed, and the link 22 goes on to the position shown in Fig. 1. When the link 22 cliscontinues to move forwardly, then the friction block 34 slides on the part 21 until it engages the arm 28, as shown in Fig. 1. This movement of the parts, from the position shown in Fig. 2 through the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 1, closes the throttle and disengages the clutch putting the parts into inoperative position. In this positionof the parts, the mechanism is now ready for restarting forward movement of the tractor as soon as the clutch pedal is released. It is to be understood that both the time at which speeding up of the engine takes place, with relation to clutch engagement, and also the engine speed at that time may be varied by adjusting the position of the nuts M.

In order to compensate for wear of the clutch, the angle of the arm 36, with relation to the lever 32, may be adjusted. This is done by loosening the nut on bolt 31 and swinging arm 36 downwardly as far as needed to get the desired throw of lever 32 and friction block 34. The nut is then again tightened.

It will of course be understood that the specific description of structure set forth herein may be departed from without departing from the spirit of this invention as set forth in this specification and the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. Throttle control mechanism for a tractor comprising supporting means to be mounted upon the tractor and support the mechanism thereon; reciprocable means for actuating the throttle valve of an internal combustion engine to closed position; friction means slidable on the reciprocable means but capable of gripping the reciprocable means sufficiently to cause reciprocation thereof; rod-gripping means to engage the clutch rod of the engine and be reciprocated thereby; a link cooperating with said rod-gripping means; and connecting means connectin the link to the friction means whereby reciprocatory movement of the clutch rod may be transmitted through the rod-gripping means, the link,

the connecting means, the friction means, and the reciprocable means to the throttle shaft.

2. Automatically functioning throttle control means for the throttle of an internal combustion motor comprising a slotted actuating means connected to the throttle shaft, a link having a portion connected to and slidable in the slot in said actuating means, supporting and guiding means to support and guide said link in its movements, a friction block slidable on said link and adapted to move same longitudinally between fixed stops, said friction block being slidable on said link after the longitudinal movement thereof has been arrested, and actuating means connecting the friction block to the clutch control rod of the controlled machine so that movements of the clutch-control rod will be transmitted through the friction block and link to the throttle shaft.

3. In an automatic throttle actuating mechanism for the carburetor throttle valve of a tractor motor, the combination of a clamp to be secured to the clutch-actuating rod of the motor; a slotted member connected to the shaft of the throttle valve; a link passing through said clamp and having a stop thereon to limit the motion of the clamp in one direction relatively to the link; resilient means surrounding the link and, at one end, abutting against the clamp, and, at its opposite end, against said stop; a second stop on said link; a lever pivotally connected to the tractor frame, said link being pivotally connected to the lever; a second link; and a friction block slidably mounted thereon and pivotally connected to said lever to be moved thereby, said second link having a portion extending through the slot in said slotted member and being adapted, when moved by said friction block, to actuate the slotted member whereby to actuate the throttle valve to closed position.

4. A structure as defined by claim 2 having resilient means forming a part of the actuating means and enabling the clutch-actuating rod to move independently of the friction block.

5. In a structure for the purpose indicated, a pair of brackets to be secured to a part of the frame of a tractor; a lever pivotally connected to one of said brackets to swing longitudinally of the tractor; a link pivotally connected to said lever to actuate same; a clamp through which said link passes and which is adapted to be secured to the clutch-control rod of the tractor, the second bracket having guide openings therein for the reception of a second link; a second link slidable in said openings longitudinally of the tractor; a friction block engaging the second link and normally causing sliding thereof but adapted to slide with respect to said second link, said friction block being pivotally connected to said lever; a slotted member rigidly but adjustably connected to the throttle shaft of the engine, the second link having a portion engaging in the slot of said slotted member and being adapted to actuate the slotted member and throttle valve in one direction, and the slotted member, by virtue of its slot, being adapted to move independently of the second link.

6. A structure as defined by claim 5 in which the friction block has adjusting means for adjusting the gripping pressure of the block on the second link.

'7. A structure as defined by claim 3 provided with stops to limit the movements of said friction block.

8. A structure as defined by claim 3 having an arm pivotally connected to the first mentioned link and adjustably connected to the lever so that the amount of movement of the friction block may be regulated to compensate for wear of the clutch.

9. In a mechanism of the character described for actuation of a throttle valve having a rotatable shaft, members mounted on one end of the throttle shaft and rotatable about said shaft, a collar on said shaft and immovably connected thereto, said collar being adjacent said members and having a projecting element projecting past one and toward the other of said members, resilient means connecting said projecting element and the second mentioned member whereby, when the clutch of the motor is disengaged, said shaft is rotated to throttle closing position, a slotted member connected to the second end of the throttle valve shaft and capable of being moved to cause closure of the valve, and power transmission means connecting the slotted member to the clutch control mechanism of the machine whereby actuating force may be transmitted to the throttle shaft from the clutch-actuat ing mechanism, the slot of the slotted member enabling the valve and the power transmission means to move independently.

10. A structure as defined by claim 9 having manual actuating means whereby the throttle valve may be manually actuated to closed po sition.

l1. Actuating means for actuating the throttle valve of a carburetor comprising, in combination, manual means for actuating the valve toward closed position; resilient means for biasing the throttle valve toward open position; a slotted member rigidly secured to the shaft of the valve; a link engaging the slot of the slotted member and adapted, upon movement in one direction, to actuate the valve toward closed position and, upon movement in the opposite direction, to permit the valve to move toward open position under the influence of said resilient means; said slot enabling the valve to be adjusted by the manual means to open different amounts under the influence of said resilient means when the slotted member is released; and actuating means connecting said link to the clutch-control rod of the tractor whereby to render the throttle valve responsive to movement of the clutch-control rod.

12. A structure as defined by claim 11 having stop means for limiting the reciprocation of the link as desired.

13. A structure as defined by claim 1 having resilient means biasing the throttle toward open position.

14. A structure as defined by claim 3 having resilient means biasing the throttle valve toward open position.

15. In an automatic throttle actuating mechanism for the carburetor throttle valve of a tractor motor, the combination of a clamp to be secured to the clutch-actuating rod of the motor; a slotted member connected to the shaft of the throttle valve; a link passing through said clamp and having a stop thereon to limit the motion of the clamp in one direction relatively to the link; resilient means surrounding the link and, at one end, abutting against the clamp, and, at its opposite end, against said stop; a second stop on said link; a lever pivotally connected to the tractor frame, said link being pivotally connected to the lever; a second link; and friction means interposed between the first and second mentioned links and connecting them to transmit force from one to the other whereby to cause movement of one by the other and yet allow relative movement thereof, said second link having a portion extending through the slot in said slotted member and being adapted, when moved by said friction means, to actuate the slotted member whereby to actuate the throttle valve to closed position.

EDWARD J. SAMPSON. 

